Trolling south of Kent Narrows

[J.A. Veil]

I launched at Goodhands at 7:15 this morning. I tried throwing a topwater Spook at the first point and caught one small striper. I really don't like dealing with double treble hooks and switched it out to a Storm swim shad. I began trolling with 4 rods, all with some size, shape, and color of paddletail. I fished shallow areas near the shorelines as I have been doing over the past 6 weeks. The fish are still there, but I did not find any large ones. I fished areas to the east and the west of the Narrows for 4.5 hours. I ended with 30 stripers -- two at 19", three at 18", and the rest smaller ones. Near the end of the trip, I had gone 30 minutes without a bite, then 3 of 4 rods went down at once. Those rods yielded an 18" and two 17" fish. That was fun.

The hot lure was a small bucktail with green, orange, and yellow hair and a chartreuse 3" Fat Sam mullet. That one lure accounted for about two thirds of all the fish today. For a while as I was crossing over some deeper water, I trolled 5 lines. I had no bites during that time -- I'm not sure how it would have worked.

I may try an experimental trolling trip in the mid-Severn Thurs or Fri to see if any stripers have moved up that far.

[Mark]

John,

You're catching enough for more than a few people...which is no solace to those of us who cannot get out this week. But good for you!

Looks like it's time to take out my buck tails from their summer sleep the next time I push the pedals.

I'm glad you didn't hit the underwater obstruction at that first point.

[kitkatyaker]

John, where would you be launching from? Peggy and I are heading out tomorrow. Maybe you could send a PM?

[Pc4sun]

Nice job, John! After reading your reply to me about the 4 inch Fat Sams, I ordered some. If they happen to come in tonight I will use them tomorrow. If not, I do have some chartruese 3 inch Fat Sams that I will use. Thanks for the tip.

[ComeOnFish]

John,
Thank you for the report.
Did you install out-riggers and rocket launchers on the T-top? Trolling 4 lines requires serious talent. I carried 3 rods twice so far. Two rods are my max.

Thank you
Joe

[Goody]

I launched at Goodhands at 7:15 this morning. I tried throwing a topwater Spook at the first point and caught one small striper. I really don't like dealing with double treble hooks and switched it out to a Storm swim shad. I began trolling with 4 rods, all with some size, shape, and color of paddletail. I fished shallow areas near the shorelines as I have been doing over the past 6 weeks. The fish are still there, but I did not find any large ones. I fished areas to the east and the west of the Narrows for 4.5 hours. I ended with 30 stripers -- two at 19", three at 18", and the rest smaller ones. Near the end of the trip, I had gone 30 minutes without a bite, then 3 of 4 rods went down at once. Those rods yielded an 18" and two 17" fish. That was fun.

The hot lure was a small bucktail with green, orange, and yellow hair and a chartreuse 3" Fat Sam mullet. That one lure accounted for about two thirds of all the fish today. For a while as I was crossing over some deeper water, I trolled 5 lines. I had no bites during that time -- I'm not sure how it would have worked.

I may try an experimental trolling trip in the mid-Severn Thurs or Fri to see if any stripers have moved up that far.

Nice job! It gets pretty hairy when all the rods get hit at once. Gotta love it though.

Mobile

[J.A. Veil]

John,
Thank you for the report.
Did you install out-riggers and rocket launchers on the T-top? Trolling 4 lines requires serious talent. I carried 3 rods twice so far. Two rods are my max.

Thank you
Joe

Joe -

I suspect your question was tongue-in cheek. I guess I do use a version of outriggers in the front to spread the rods out a bit further and to move the rod butts away from my pedaling legs. Here is my layout for trolling 4 rods.

001.jpg

I use 6' to 6'6" medium and medium-light spinning rods. They are flexible enough to give a lot of bend with even modest-sized fish. That flexing puts lateral pressure on the inside of the rod holders and reduces the likelihood of the rod getting pulled overboard. I try to put the heavier lures in the rear and let out more line. The lighter lures go in the front with less line out. As long as I keep moving, the lines stay pretty much separated. If I get a strong fish or several fish at the same time, I often need to untangle some lines after unhooking the fish. But the amount of tangling is minimal. It is much easier to manage with a pedal-drive kayak than with a paddle-powered kayak as I did in the past until this season.

In the front, I use three pieces: a) the Scotty gear track head mounts that slide along the gear tracks. When they are in position, you twist them clockwise to tighten them; b) extender bars to push the rod holders out further, and c) the rod holders themselves, which I deploy at about 45 deg toward the front.

004.jpg

When a fish hits a front rod, it place a rotational force on the rod holder. The setup on the right side tends to tighten as the fish pulls, limiting the amount of turning. On the left side, however, a fish pulling tends to loosen the rod holder and allows it to swing backwards. That problem bothered me a bit. A few weeks ago I came up with a simple solution. I run a loop of slender bungee cord around the bracket holding the FF/GPS. When I deploy the left side rod holder, I place the loop over a small protrusion on the side of the rod holder. If I get a strong fish on that side, the rod holder will start to rotate, but the amount of rotation will be limited by the bungee. It worked very well today.

005.jpg 006.jpg

I use two fixed-mount Scotty bases behind the seat. I pivot the rod holder 45 deg to the rear and angle them up part way. I can easily reach them from my seat without excessive turning.

003.jpg

For the short time that I trolled 5 rods today, I had to hold the fifth rod in my right hand (left hand was on the rudder lever).